EAST MOLINE -- East Moline Mayor Joe Moreno said in his State of the City address before the East Moline Rotary Club that residents can see the city's progress, even though times are tough.

City staff and aldermen worked to keep the new Jewel-Osco store in Kennedy Square from going to Moline, Mayor Moreno said.

"This was a development that we couldn't afford to lose," he said.

Last May, the city approved an agreement giving Jewel-Osco a sales-tax rebate of $720,000 over six years. The new 54,000-square-foot store and Jewel Express gas station on Kennedy Drive and Avenue of the Cities will open in April.

Empty lots around the store will bring in more businesses that want to locate there, Mayor Moreno said.

Mayor Moreno said he looked at the closing of the CNH Global Case plant as a positive thing that would eventually benefit the city.

Mayor Moreno also mentioned the Woodside Road subdivision that will have more than 50 single-family homes and condominium-style units, on 100 acres north of Illinois 5 between 179th Street and Denhardt Road.

A sewer extension is being put in along Illinois 5, Mayor Moreno said.

"Why should a developer talk to us if we don't have the amenities out there?" Mayor Moreno said, adding a sewer extension and water lines are essential to attract developers.

"We have our work cut out for 2005 and beyond," Mayor Moreno said.